Into The Trees
by Ellixer
Summary: Brand new story.  Got my writing muse back.  After season 9, case file-ish.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Into The Woods

**Rating:** PG future MA

**Summary:** Still chasing after those files. Love, sex, creatures from the dark.

**Endorse:** The show belongs to the usual people. Not to me. The story is mine.  
>You can't steal it. Please send feedback. Ask if you want to archive, please archive, my<br>name has to be attached and so forth. 

We can run to the brightest most remote spot on the planet and still the darkness will follow. I've given up fighting and given in to keeping him alive. He is, and always was really, the only reason I do it. And of course without me he probably would have died a long time ago. Unfortunately we really do need each other. When I set out in life I never thought this is what my future would be. But I suppose God's plan is beyond my scope and I should just continue to walk the path that feels right, though I've wanted to leave it for a brighter path so many times.

So what are we doing here? Nothing for the moment but that never lasts long. We're known in circles that most people don't know exist. We can get paid to investigate, or sometimes it just slaps us in the face. He can't run from the mystery. He has to dig and find out all the nooks and crannies hiding in the shadows. When we're lucky, our lives aren't in danger. But were not that lucky often.

What happened to the threat? Oh it's there, constantly scratching and itching like a wound that won't heal. Some of the things we run into are indirectly related, others not even remotely. But with each tiny bit of info, and tiny battle won, we hope to preserve the human race. Though by many accounts it may already be too late.

I dangle my feet in the crystal clear blue water. Bright colors dart back and forth beneath the surface. The fish are plentiful but he doesn't seem to be having much luck catching any. The rod hangs loosely in his hands.

"We should retire here." He mumbles.

"I don't think retire is in our vocabulary." He turns his head towards me and grins leaning in.

"How about a vacation home?" His lips brush against my cheek.

"I'm not sure that's in our vocabulary either."

"Mhmmm. Batcave? Secret lair?" Sometimes it gets to him like it does to me. But he feels guilt; the pain for him is different. William is our one shared deep wound that isn't going to heal.

His lips brush along my neck, little kisses peppering my skin. It always makes me want to giggle, so he does it more. Suddenly he pulls away, reeling in his line and tossing the rod up onto the deck of the boat. Grabbing my hand he winks, pulling me up to the deck with him.

The boat is rocking gently in the water, like a cradle rocks a baby. It's not working on my sudden insomnia though. His has disappeared somewhere, he claims I exhaust him, not always in a good way. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a constant state of exhaustion. No matter what I do, it won't go away, much like the conspiracies I stumbled into years ago. No wonder my brother hates him. Sometimes I think I've hated him too, for dragging me into this life. Dragging my family under with us. For a time I hated him for William. Hate never gets you very far, it's a waste of energy and brain power. And after everything, I wonder how we ever could have possibly made it this far, and frankly every day we aren't dead I'm surprised. But I guess things are better then they were. In some senses we're free, in others we're not.

"You're thinking too loud." Gravely mumble comes from behind me.

"I'll try to turn the volume down."

"What's wrong?" His voice is softer, an arm wraps around my waist and pulls me back against him. I can feel his hot breath against my neck.

"Life." I offer. He groans in frustration, removing his arm and moving away from me in one motion. The loss of warmth is too sudden. Before he can move anywhere else I turn over and drape myself over his right side. I'm holding on for dear life. He chuckles.

"I'm not going to float away."

"Shut up Mulder." I mumble into his chest and loosen my grip a little, but not too much.

"So why do you hate me now?"

"I don't hate you, I was just thinking about my life, and how I got here. It happens Mulder people think, even you."

"I know, but I can't imagine a life without you, and you can imagine one without me." He's just being ridiculous. My head pops up, I try to stare him in the eye, but he's avoiding that.

"At one point years ago when we were still working on the X-files, maybe. But even at a certain point then I couldn't leave."

"You had no choice."

"I always had a choice Mulder. My life is my choice, at least the things that don't involve alien conspiracies. And my choice has been you. So stop being an idiot." He smirks a little.

"But that's what you love about me." I shake my head at him.

"It probably is." He turns sober again.

"I wish I could have given you the life you wanted." His eyes are sparkling with unshed tears.

"I don't even know what the life I wanted is." I rest my head back on his chest. His heart is beating a slow rhythmic beat.

"We both know." He whispers into my hair. Why do we always go through this? We will still be asking these questions in our 80's?

"Did you ever think that maybe that life wouldn't have made me happy. There wouldn't have been a you and me. Hell you probably would have been dead years ago if it wasn't for me."

"Bit of an ego there Doctor." The laughter is back in his voice.

"It's true and you know it."

"Yes, you are a true Wonder Woman." He pauses a moment. "Where do you hide that whip of yours?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Into The Woods 2/?

**Rating:** PG future MA

**Summary:** Still chasing after those files. Love, sex, creatures from the dark.

**Endorse:** The show belongs to the usual people. Not to me. The story is mine.  
>You can't steal it. Please send feedback. Ask if you want to archive, please archive, my<br>name has to be attached and so forth.

We're standing at the beginning of a bike path. It winds endlessly into the forest before us. I have to say, I hate forests. Too many bad things have happened to us in places that look exactly like this. Mulder doesn't even hesitate of course. It's as if almost dying multiple times in the woods was a dream that he had ages ago. I on the other hand cannot forget so easily. No matter how many years pass. The excitement in his eyes is blazing out. He loves a good investigation.

"Mulder, Scully." A man we are all too familiar with these days stomps up to us. "Glad you came." He doesn't smile, he doesn't scowl. His face is unreadable and slightly creepy.

"So how many so far?" Mulder asks, getting straight to the point.

"50."

"50?" I gasp.

"So far. The bodies are spread out too, so this isn't a mass grave."

"Anything significant so far?" Mulder is unfazed. I'm still processing the number.

"Their internal organs were removed. So far there's nothing else on the bodies but a closer look will hopefully give more clues."

"Where are they?" Mulder is eager to look at the scene. The man jerks his head towards the woods and we follow him down the path.

"Do you think this could just be a dumping ground for a serial killer?" I whisper. He shrugs.

"Maybe." I can tell he already has a theory in his head. A monster hunting the woods perhaps. I should believe these things right off the bat like he does. But even with everything I've been through, the rational side of me still over powers any irrational thoughts.

"Mulder, I know what you're thinking."

"Well we wouldn't be here if it was something simple. We specialize remember?" He gives me that boyish smirk of his.

"I would hardly call a serial killer simple." I mumble. Arguing right now is pointless. He's focused and his claws are dug in.

After a mile or so we finally reach the site. A long time ago I learned the value of a good pair of boots. I've had to adapt my style from office chic to what Mulder calls, a Lara Croft look. Not sure what that means but he insists it's very sexy. I'm not sure I believe him. We step into the dense woods, going no more than a few feet when we come upon the first body; well where it was.

"This was the first discovery." The man merely nods toward the hole. "Which then of course led to all the others." He makes a sweeping motion with his arm. I finally notice the forensic workers, quite a distance away, working on another site. The void between us and the forensic team is filled with shallow graves.

"Have you found any animal tracks, anything weird?" Mulder asks scanning the ground.

"Yes." The man hands over a manila envelope that he produced from seemingly thin air. "We have taken casts and pictures of various tracks. We've been able to identify all but a few." Mulders eyes sparkle with elation. He already feels he's been proven right.

"Have you had any crypto zoologists look at these?" His eyes don't leave the pictures he's pulling out of the envelope.

"We've had them sent to Dr. Zentmer. A Zoologist that works out of the local university." Mulder just nods in approval and the man leaves. He knows to contact us, and how.

"Look at these Scully." Mulder's voice is jumping with excitement. He starts shoving pictures my direction.

"These could be anything Mulder."

"The woods in West Virginia are full of tales and legends of all kinds of monsters."

"Yes and none of them have been proven."

"None of them have been proven false." He grins. He is so annoying.

"This is probably just a deformed coyote or something. It doesn't prove anything."

"It proves a lot."

"Please tell me we aren't spending the night out here?"

"Not tonight." He grins. "We need to get a look of those autopsies. And I need to do some research on the area."

"Like you haven't already."

As I sit here in this plush chair, reviewing the autopsies, I start to realize that I miss the gentle lull of the boat. We only ever get to stay there a few days to a week if we're lucky. I like the idea of just drifting off into the vast ocean where no one can find us. No phones or internet. No communication whatsoever. But would he last very long in that sort of environment. He claims so, but I doubt it.

I pull my legs up underneath me and begin to dig deeper. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, except for the missing organs. Every body had its stomach sliced open by something very sharp and precise. That could hardly describe an animal, but they have yet been able to identify what made the cut. The organs seem to just have been pulled out. No careful slicing and dicing. Can't be organ harvesting. Even the black market would remove the organs a bit more carefully than that.

No signs of struggle, or that the victims were tied up in any sort of manner. Toxicology hasn't come back but surely there has to be something in their systems. According to the files, some of the bodies go as far back as 80 years ago. All apparently had clothes on and all identifying materials and objects still on their bodies. Surely a serial killer would make more effort to hide their identity. But he could feel as if he's untouchable. 80 years? A master and apprentice?

Mulder strides in. Hair wet from the pouring rain outside. Sitting on the end of the bed he chucks his shoes, looking at me like he's found buried treasure.

"How far do the bodies date." He asks. I'm not sure I want to answer. The look on his face is one that says he knows more than I do.

"The oldest one they think is about 1930."

"Coal in this area started to really boom in this area in the 1900's. This town used to be a mining town, and it was established in 1928." He gave me a look of satisfaction.

"And your point Mulder?"

"People only started to disappear when the mine came here. In the beginning they just figured it was mining accidents. Then they would claim that people just got lost in the woods. Since 1930, over 100 people have gone missing. That's only the reported ones. Who knows how many more there could be."

"I still don't get your point."

"Scully, those miners woke something up 80 years ago. And I'm going to prove it." I sigh, of course he is.

"How are you going to do that?"

"The same way I always do." He grins.

"Stumble into something you know nothing about, almost die, but declare victory." I've become very sarcastic. He moves on as if he didn't hear me.

"We need to get that zoologist to identify those prints. Then.." He pauses. "We're going to have to go into the woods."

"Mulder." I whine. He walks over and kisses my forehead, and gives me a little grin.

"Don't worry. Not tonight." Still I grumble. I hate the woods.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:** Thanks for the reviews, you people are fricken awesome. Doing my best to write in character and well.

Turns out the local college is an hour away. I wasn't eager to drive there at eleven o'clock at night when the call came in. Of course Mulder couldn't wait. Nights like these are always long, and a normal sleep cycle is not really something I've had in years. But here I sit, in a jeep driving down a dark road in the middle of the night.

The campus is pretty empty with only a few drunk students wandering around the quad. We pull up to a big hulking century old building. All lights are extinguished within, but no doubt our scientist isn't the only one working away in a lab within its walls.

Our shoes reverberate down the empty halls as we move through the darkness. It would be eerie for me if I hadn't spent college in labs like these while others partied the night away. This is like a home away from home. We reach a doorway with a faint light shining out into the hallway. A women is bent over looking closely at something on the table in front of her. Her back is to us and doesn't seem to notice our arrival, though I'm not sure how. She isn't wearing a lab coat, in fact she looks as if she might be a student.

"Dr. Zentmer?" Mulder announces our presence. She doesn't move, not even a flinch. She is just intently working on whatever lay before her. We walk closer.

"Excuse me." I try to say loudly without yelling. The woman jumps, turning and ripping ear buds out of her ears at the same time.

"Oh sorry, didn't hear you." She's panting and holding her chest as if nearly having a heart attack. She pulls an MP3 player out of her pocket and shows it as if in silent explanation. "You must be Mr. Mulder." Her hand shoots out towards him.

"Just Mulder." They shake, her hand lingering with his for a little too long.

"Call me Catherine." She beams.

"So you're the zoologist?" I ask trying not to notice the way she is looking at him. Like a puppy looking at a brand new toy. Her eyes shift towards me, as if just realizing I'm there.

"Oh yes. And I think I have some answers and some questions." She walks down an aisle of lab tables to the main desk. We follow dutifully. She looks to be in her early to mid thirties, blond hair tied up in a bun and glasses complete the studious look. I'm sure the glasses are just for fashion's sake.

"So I've been looking at these prints trying to pinpoint at least a species type." Dr. Zentmer shuffles through her papers. "I think it may be part of the canine family looking at its paw pattern. But not any that I've heard of, or have been able to find."

"Well there have been stories of a creature stalking these woods." Mulder interjects. The zoologist smiles widely.

"It does bear resemblance to tracks reported to be from a creature that no one can seem to identify." She hands him a crude drawing. "This is probably the best picture from all the descriptions given."

"So you're telling me, you believe a monster is in the woods killing people?" I cross my arms in front of my chest, giving them a look of incredulity. Her eyes look at me for a moment before she dismisses me altogether.

"This could very well be a species that hasn't been discovered, a cryptid." She's practically jumping out of her skin with excitement. One hand comes to rest on Mulder's arm. Ugh, all I can do is shake my head. Mulder groupies are just so annoying.

"Is there any more information you've been able to get?"

"That's where even more questions come into the picture." I lean back against a lab table. I might as well not even be here. Dr. Zentmer, _Catherine_, leans in closer to Mulder. "There haven't been any reports of attacks like these in this area, but the next county had a problem with animals be killed in a similar fashion about 30 years ago." I can see the wheels turning in his head. I'm just hoping I can get a few hours sleep first.

They stay huddled together for another twenty minutes. This stool is starting to hurt my butt, and watching the zoologist fawn over Mulder is getting tiring. Sometimes he's oblivious to the fact that these women are hitting on him, but not always, he is a man.

Back in the jeep, on the dark road back to our hotel room, Mulder is detailing his plans to find the 'cryptid' in the woods. Of course this involves camping out in said woods. I'm still annoyed by that so called professor. Hopefully we don't have to see her again but unfortunately I'm sure we will.

"Do you ever consider how unnatural it is to be turned on by creatures and monsters?" I ask; my eyebrow lifts giving him a look of mock scorn.

"There's a term for that." He grins.

"Don't tell me, I don't want to know."

As soon as we step into our room, I flop myself on the bed. I don't really want to move again, hunger came and went an hour ago. Mulder is standing at my feet looking down at me with a cockeyed grin.

"What?" He better not be thinking of going out again.

"Did I ever tell you how sexy you look when you're tired?"

"No." I nudge his leg with my boot. He has actually, many, many times. Bending down he starts pulling my boots off. As soon as air hits my feet I feel instant relief from the tension I've been storing. He gives my foot a tickle then drops down on his side next to me.

"Are you sure about that?" His fingers start playing with my hair.

"I'm sure I would have remembered that." I try to suppress my grin. We're weird.

"Oh, oh well." He hops up and starts to walk away.

"Heey."

"What, I need to go take a shower." He fanes innocence. Quickly I sit up, grab him by his shirt, and pull him back down on top of me.

"You're not going anywhere." We're grinning at each other.


End file.
